But What Are You Making?

When I was in elementary school in 1987 we had a Makerspace. Yeah, you heard that right, we had a Makerspace. I hear you saying “but Mike don't Makerspaces have laptops and iPads and robots”? My response is, I guess yeah some Makerspaces have some of those things, but is that what makes a Makerspace? 

I want to talk about this today because I've seen it come up a few times recently. I'll be in a meeting, or having a conversation with someone and they'll say “yeah we're really excited to start up our Makerspace. We're going to buy a whole bunch of robots and put a whole bunch of iPads in the room.” At that point I can't help but interject and say “but what are you making?” You see, in my mind, a Makerspace isn't about the things in the room, it's about what you're creating. It's not so much about your school's culture of technology as much as your school's culture of adventure.

If all your Makerspace has is devices and computers I think you're really missing out on a special opportunity to have students build and create. Maybe they create something they can take home to their parents to show off; something that their parents will put up on the mantle or in a display case and say “look this is what my daughter made at school today can you believe what they're doing in school these days?” It's an incredible opportunity for students to feel agency in their learning. The idea that they can do something at school and have it in their hands when they're done, and whatever it is that they did, whatever it is that they made, it's theirs. It's their CREATION. 

Makerspaces should have tools, and hammers, and nails, and wood. They should have metal, and sewing machines, and paint. There should be paper, and scissors. Now, don't get me wrong, technology is a huge part of a modern Makerspace. I can guarantee you that the space in my school as it stands today probably has a lot of technology in it. Obviously time moves on and things that didn't even exist in 1987 are critical components of a technology, computer science, Makerspace, curriculum today. Yes, if your budget allows, Makerspaces should also have 3D printers, laser cutters, or laser etchers. This is the stuff that didn't exist or at least was incredibly expensive when I was a kid and you can buy now within a similar budget as that class set of robots that you were thinking of getting. 

So if you're an administrator out there and you're about to hop into a meeting with some vendor to talk about how you're going to build a Makerspace, just remember that making is a culture more than it is a thing you're going to do; and that while Makerspaces may have iPads and robots, in my mind, there's still nothing cooler than the wooden bowl I made for my mom on a lathe in 1987. She still has it in her display case at home.